Manufacturer Seeks to Regain Top Ranking
Bell Helicopter is
trying to regain its footing after holding a distant second place
slot in worldwide civil helicopter sales for five consecutive
years. When the world helicopter industry gathers for the HAI Expo
in Las Vegas next week, a lot of people will want to hear
management's plan for introducing products that will fire up sales.
Bell Chief Executive Mike Redenbaugh says he won't disappoint. For
the first time in years, he said Bell has more to offer its
customers than vague promises.
"We'll provide something a little more concrete than, 'We're
working on it,'" Redenbaugh, who was named CEO of Fort Worth-based
Bell last May, recently told the Dallas Star-Telegram.
Although Bell won't unveil an all-new helicopter model,
Redenbaugh says he will announce a plan for developing new and
improved models at the Helicopter Association International
Heli-Expo trade show Sunday. He declined to discuss specifics, but
the newspaper indicated sources, within Bell, say engineers are
working on three projects that could lead to improved aircraft
within a couple of years. According to the Star-Telegram's report,
a tail-rotor shroud, known as a fenestron, is being designed and
will be tested on a Bell 407, the company's best-selling
helicopter. Used for years by other manufacturers, the shroud
produces a quieter aircraft and reduces the risk of someone being
maimed by the tail rotor. An articulated main rotor system, a
technology used by Sikorsky and Eurocopter, will be tested on a
Bell 427. The new rotor is expected to generate more lift and cost
less to maintain than the traditional Bell design.
Within 24 months, the company hopes to obtain FAA certification
for a revamped Bell 427. Plans call for a stretched aircraft with a
larger cockpit and cabin. A new rotor system and upgraded
transmission would allow improved performance and increased
payload. Improvements to the 427, if they materialize, will be a
big step forward. The twin-engine aircraft, Bell's first "clean
sheet of paper" design since the original H-1 in the 1950s, was
developed in the late '90s. But the aircraft had too small a rotor
for adequate power, and sales have lagged.
Bell's business could use a shot of adrenaline. In 1996, the
company produced 49 percent of the world's new civil helicopters,
according to data compiled by the Teal Group, a market-forecasting
firm. But since then, even Bell officials concede, Bell has been
pounded by aggressive archrival Eurocopter. Just 31 percent of the
new helicopters produced last year came from Bell. Eurocopter's
ascendancy, analysts say, is understandable. It has introduced a
series of new or substantially upgraded models. Bell hasn't.
Most of Bell's products were last upgraded in the early '90s. In
recent years, the company has devoted most of its engineering and
financial resources to the V-22 Osprey military and BA-609 civil
tilt- rotor aircraft. It didn't take long, Redenbaugh says, before
he realized that Bell needed to do something quickly to inject life
into its aging product line. Bell builds major components for its
civil helicopters, including rotors and transmissions, in Fort
Worth. Final assembly happens at the company's plant in
Montreal.
Since taking over,
Redenbaugh says he has talked to hundreds of Bell customers to
determine their needs. Then he mapped out short- and long-term
strategies. Bell employees say Redenbaugh has given the green light
to numerous proposals for modest but important product
improvements, some of which have been around for years.
Many in the industry hope that Bell will announce plans for an
all-new helicopter. Bell officials acknowledge that they have such
a project, code-named MAPL, but Redenbaugh says it will be the end
of the decade before an all-new product is in production. Short
term, the company is doing what it can to improve the performance
and cut the operating costs of its helicopter models. These steps,
Redenbaugh says, will help keep Bell's existing customers happy and
should lead to additional sales. Over the next couple of years,
Redenbaugh says Bell will make significant improvements to some of
its existing aircraft. In the future will come the BA-609
tilt-rotor, scheduled for certification by the end of 2007, and
then perhaps a variation of the MAPL project.